You start applying for the fellowship, and you see that you’ve been asked to do a coding challenge. But aaagh, you can’t make heads or tails of that thing! What do you do? Don’t worry. Here are some resources to help… Follow these steps to solve the hell out of it:

#1 – Find Out If You Like to Code

This might seem like a “duh”, but really think about it. Hackbright isn’t a gateway into a life of glamor and riches. It’s a great way to learn a lot about programming really quickly. If that excites you, then you’ll probably see this kind of experience as an excellent investment. But if you discover that you don’t enjoy programming halfway through the term, then there’s a higher chance that you’ll be unhappy. Finding out if you like to code can take a while. Learning enough programming to pass the coding challenge should therefore also take a little while. If you’re just starting out, don’t be surprised if you spend a bit of time of intermittent preparation.

#2 – Don’t Google the Answer

You might find the answer, run the code, and see that it works, but you still don’t really know how it works and you’re not making progress towards our prime directive (and the person who reads your solution can usually tell). There are helpful ways to use Google, but looking up a baked solution isn’t one of them. Admissions will be asking you HOW you got to the solution so being clear on that process is important.

#3 – Find Good Online Tutorials

There are tons of interactive, online tutorials to learn programming because people who code teach others to code THROUGH CODE. A helpful thing to google would be “best tutorials for learning [insert language here]” to see what pops up. If you’re overwhelmed because there are so many options, here’s our blow by blow.

2. Do Think Like a Computer Scientist. There’s a lot there. If you can identify where you’re having trouble, then go to that topic and do the exercises, otherwise I would recommend the following sections:

#4 – Expand Your Network

Depending on where you live, there might be events such as meetups that focus on a particular programming language. If you have time, join these groups and spend time with the group to begin building your network.

Check that challenge again and give it a shot! Ready? YEAH! You can do it. Use some of the online resources above and get ready to rock that coding challenge. We need more women engineers in the field and you’re one of them!